Earth Observations in Response to Biodiversity and Conservation The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Programme (BIOPAMA) Andreas Brink Senior Scientist Joint Research Centre – European Commission AfriGEOSS April 2016, Victoria Falls

Human well-being depends on ecosystem services Ecosystem Service Food production Timber production Mining products Carbon stock Water regulation Habitat provisioning Fire wood Recreation Cultural heritage Well-being Provisioning Supporting / Regulating Cultural

Needs and Requirements What biodiversity & conservationists need and want from remote sensing History of related workshops – 2009-recent Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) workshop series Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) — Biodiversity workshop Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) workshop European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) workshop

Context The quality and quantity of a habitat is one of the main factors for the distribution and abundance of species The reduction in both quality and quantity of a habitat is therefore a key factor for species loss Habitat loss is identified as a main threat to 85% of all species described in IUCN's Red List CBD’s key priority is a significant reduction in the rate of current biodiversity loss

Pressure on Land Competition for land as a main thread to ecosystems and habitats Population density and growth Urbanisation, infrastructure and transportation networks Agriculture, livestock farming Forest exploitation Mining, dams Fires Poaching …

Remote Sensing for conservation and biodiversity Key needs and challenges: information on status, dynamics and trends of natural resource and ecosystems The role of Earth Observation –Mapping land cover –Verifying territorial integrity and connectivity –Delineating habitat boundaries –Assessing land-cover changes –Monitoring phenological cycles –…

Terrestrial habitat extent, distribution and change– Priority needs Improved mapping for discriminating important subdivisions of land cover that reflect important habitats that have often merged into broader categories Improved land cover product for mapping the extent of, and variation within, land covers that relate to key habitats, especially savannah, natural grasslands (including steppes), wetlands, intertidal mud and sand flats, salt marshes, sea grass beds, mangroves and coral reefs Information on change in extent of habitats is an important indicator of change in biodiversity –only used reliably and on a wide scale for forests

Natural habitat vs. man made – Priority needs Conservationists want to be able to quantify the drivers and pressures on biodiversity and habitats Identification of transition rates between natural vs. non- natural land cover –For example, rates of deforestation may have been measured, but the replacement land cover may only be vaguely known Information on rates of change from natural habitat to plantation, urban, cropland, pasture and abandoned land (including desert) needs to be available in more detail The types of crops being grown on cropland converted from forest are an indication of the economic drivers of habitat loss

BIOPAMA – Biodiversity and Protected Area Management Better Information for Protected Areas 20 M EUR project, funded by the European Development Fund on the Intra-ACP line (Africa – Caribbean – Pacific) for the period > BIOPAMA 2 JRC, IUCN, GIZ Vision –Based on the best available science and knowledge, to enhance existing institutions and networks by building their capacity to strengthen policy and to implement well informed decisions on biodiversity conservation and protected areas management, and access and benefit sharing

The Needs Critical Biodiversity Infrastructures “get everyone playing a role in conservation...onto a common platform where they can see what everyone else is doing. We need to have a common place or places where the information flows around freely, easily and with credibility. A single authoritative place where data can be updated and held for the common good”.

The Questions What are the ecological characteristics of a Protected Area What species are present What habitat types can be found What ecosystem services does it provide? How vulnerable are the species, How unique are the habitats How might they be affected by human populations, infrastructure, economy and climate change?

Key Objectives and Deliverables A.Reference Information System (JRC) –Ecological Assessments and Data Collection –Socio-economic Assessments and Data Collection –Management & Governance Assessments and Data Collection B.Supporting the establishment of Regional Observatories (IUCN)

Implementation of Observatories Serve as knowledge centres for the regions > Regional Information System Facilitate networking of experts and institutions Support capacity building Coordinate technical and policy support to national agencies and regional organizations

Regional Information System (RIS)

RIS – Key features Online access to relevant information Reduce costs Access to credible science to support decisions Promotes transparency Promotes cooperative governance Ensures consistent decision-making Insight into cumulative impacts Speeds up the process of decision making Creates shared value through balancing conservation & development needs

BIOPAMA – thematic structure

Land cover / land cover change

eStation Environmental Monitoring

Fire monitoring – fire tool

Links

21 Thank you!